The supermarket giant have been installing the toilet signage in 149 of their stores nationwide to help reduce stigma for those living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and other invisible disabilities.
Waitrose now joins over 2,000 stores across the UK in Asda, Tesco and Morrison’s in promoting the toilet sign campaign. The only major supermarket yet to commit to the campaign is Sainsbury’s and following very positive engagement with them, we hope to be able to give an update on this in the near future.
We are pleased to say that the very positive support received from Waitrose has gone one step further as they will be training their staff across their stores to recognise and accept the Crohn’s & Colitis UK Can’t Wait Card. This is excellent news and will provide a bit more reassurance to those out shopping and need access to a toilet in an emergency.
Crohn’s & Colitis UK were also one of three national charities that online Waitrose shoppers could vote for in their Community Matters green token scheme. We came first on the online poll receiving the largest share of the £25,000 fund.
We would really like to thank Waitrose for all their fantastic engagement with us, being the latest supermarket to join our campaign supporting their customers and changing mindsets that disabilities are not always visible. We know that our members have been questioned and in some cases received verbal abuse about using accessible toilets in their moment of need. This is simply not acceptable and our campaign will go some way to changing perceptions on disability and help reduce discrimination for those with IBD.
Andy McGuinness, Social Policy and Public Affairs Officer
Crohn's & Colitis UK
